Interpol anti-terror system to be set up

At least 192 countries whose governments are part of the International Police (Interpol) hope to further strengthen the worldwide drive against terrorism with a system that gives each of them access to information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In the Philippines, Interpol is composed of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Immigration (BI) and other government intelligence agencies.

Lawyer Ricardo Diaz, chief of the NBI’s Interpol division, said under the system — dubbed I-24-7 — all 192 countries will have access to the information each country gathers, particularly about terrorism.

He said Interpol-member countries must share intelligence information they gather in real-time.

"Information in real-time is actionable intelligence information. We’ll always be a failure if we can’t get information in real-time," Diaz explained.

He cited last month’s terror attacks in Madrid, Spain, where about 200 people were killed and many others wounded. Authorities said bombs planted in jampacked trains by terrorists exploded during the rush hour.

"Kahit mahuli natin yung (Even if we catch the) terrorists, we are still a failure because we failed to preempt the attacks," Diaz said.

He also said that two years ago, Singapore authorities managed to preempt an attack with the arrest of 15 suspected terrorists believed to be part of the Jemaah Islamiyah, said to be the Southeast Asian arm of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

Diaz said I-24-7 will also focus on other criminal activities, including human smuggling and illegal drugs.

He added that the system is safeguarded from criminal elements. Interpol members are tasked to ensure the information does not fall into the wrong hands or used for the wrong reason.

Diaz stressed that the Philippines will always play vital role in the Interpol, as Filipinos are scattered in 180 countries all over the world.

He noted that the NBI has at least 25 million fingerprints in its database, to check the records of Filipinos who committed crimes abroad.